Let's review what we know
- Your immune system begins in your gut.
- If you have dysbiosis or abnormal gut bacteria you are more likely to develop various types of cancer including: squamous cell carcinoma, pancreatic cancer and colorectal cancer.
- When you are diagnosed with cancer your standard treatment options will likely include cytotoxic drugs that target rapidly dividing cancer cells.
- Chemotherapy drugs damage mucosal membranes throughout the body.
- It is also recommended to take antibiotics with cytotoxic drugs to offset the effect from the chemotherapeutic agents to prevent white blood cell sepsis.
- Antibiotics destroy both good and bad bacteria. Antibiotics create gut dysbiosis. Antibiotics change an intact gut microbiome into a leaky gut.
New Treatment Findings from Tumor Progression in Mice
I read an outstanding student scholarship paper in the recent Naturopathic Doctor News and Review about Gut Bacteria and Cancer Treatment New Research and Clinical Relevance.
Mice in a germ-free environment were compared to mice treated with broad-spectrum antibiotics and mice with good guts or intact intestinal microbiota.(Hampilos, K., Hodsdon. W. 2015)
"The gut bacteria regulate the immune response to cancer at the level of gene expression" (lida et al.)
When cancer is untreated, genes are turned on to promote rapid cellular growth and other genes are turned down or off that identify foreign invaders,stimulate programmed cell death and set off inflammatory warning signals that there is a problem on a cellular level.
What happens when prophylactic antibiotics are given with chemotherapy treatment?
"Antibiotics significantly impaired the ability of the immunotherapy regimen to reduce tumor burden. Antibiotics interfered with the immunotherapy by reducing Tumor Necrosis Factor production - the cells that kill cancer cells." In another study, antibiotics reduced the ability of cyclophosphamide to stimulate immune cells towards an anti-tumor Th1/Th17 response. "Cyclophosphamide increased permeability of the small intestine and allowed gram-positive bacteria into secondary lymphoid organs." (Hampilos, K., Hodsdon, W. 2015)
"Specific gram-positive commensal bacteria were needed to both restore the anti-tumor action of cyclophosphamide and to promote Th1 and Th17 memory T cells." (Hampilos, K., Hodsdon, W. 2015)
What were the gram-positive commensal bacteria? Lactobacillus johnsonii and Enterococcus hirae. Other bacteria that increased the effectiveness of CpG-ODN/IL10R were Alistipes and Ruminococcus. If you have a diagnosis of cancer and your treatment protocol involves cyclophosphamide, CpG-ODN or Cisplatin or Oxaliplatin - you need specific probiotics to preserve and protect your gut microbiome from chemotherapy-induced leaky gut.
I usually recommend Xymogen's ProbioMax DF which contain Lactobacillus acidophilus La-14, Lactobacillus plantarum Lp-15, Bifidobacterium longum B1-05 and Bifidobacterium lactis HNO19, but not the species used in the chemotherapy studies. It will be important to find and use those specific species with "the cancer population".
- Iida N, Dzutsev A, Stweart CA, et al. Commensal bacteria control cancer response to therapy by modulating the tumor microenvironment. 2013;342(6161):967-970.
- Hampilos, K., Hodsdon, W. Gut Microbiota and Cancer Treatment ndnr Vol. 11 issue 9 pp. 1-5.
Let's talk about your case and see what is most beneficial for you in your fight against cancer. This week we got an unprovoked testimonial from a hospice nurse working with one of our patients. After working as a hospice nurse for the past 25 years she has seen a number of conventional and unconventional treatments. She said to our patient's wife,"when patients use I.V. ozone therapy early in their treatment she has seen remarkable results." Whether you use conventional cancer treatments or start with alternative treatments first you can use probiotics and I.V. Ozone therapy to build your immune system.
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/blog/breast-cancer-starts-in-your-gut-fix-that-leaky-gut
/blog/6-misconceptions-about-ozone-therapies
